Over 200 years of history

Việt Nam•12/09/2023

Van Ta Tan recently held its Fishing Festival (one of the three large-scale rituals of the village) during the National Day holiday on September 2nd, attracting a large number of local people and tourists to visit and learn about the historical site.

Lifespan of over 200 years

The Fishing Festival takes place over three days, from September 1st to 3rd, 2023 (corresponding to the 17th to 19th of the 7th lunar month), with many diverse activities. For generations, the Fishing Festival has been a distinctive cultural product of coastal communities throughout the country in general and in Phan Rí Cửa town in particular, associated with the worship of the whale god. For the lives of coastal communities, the Fishing Festival is the most important festival of the year, as it is a festival to pray for a bountiful harvest and a bountiful fishing season, asking the gods for a year of favorable weather, calm seas, and abundant fish and shrimp.

From early morning, the atmosphere at Phan Rí Cửa estuary was bustling with brass bands, drums, and flags preparing for the ceremonies.

According to the historical records of Phan Rí Cửa, during the war between the Nguyễn and Trịnh lords in 1627 that divided the North and South of Vietnam, Mr. Phan Hiệp, originally from Nghi Xuân, Hà Tĩnh, left his homeland and settled in Điện Bàn, Quảng Nam. After the war between Nguyễn Phúc Ánh and the Tây Sơn Quang Trung Nguyễn Huệ ended, Mr. Hiệp and a group of people from Quảng Nam moved to Phan Rí to settle and establish their lives. He observed that the Phan Rí area had abundant natural resources, with its geographical features including proximity to rivers and the sea, diverse fishing grounds, and favorable weather conditions, which led him to decide to permanently establish his livelihood there.

It attracted a large number of local people to come and watch.

During his time as a fisherman, although Phan Rí had favorable weather conditions, with fewer storms and natural disasters compared to Quảng Nam , it was still subject to strong winds and storms during the changing seasons. Coupled with the spiritual and superstitious beliefs inherited from Quảng Nam, Mr. Phan Hiệp began mobilizing local fishermen to establish the first fishing village in the Phan Rí area, named Vạn Nam Bình, in the year Kỷ Mão (1819). In the year Tân Tỵ (1821), Emperor Minh Mạng issued a decree establishing Vạn Nam Bình.

The villagers prayed to the gods for a year of "favorable rain and wind, calm seas, and abundant fish and shrimp."

The first time Phan Rí was granted a royal decree by the Nguyễn dynasty king to establish Vạn Nam Bình, dedicated to the god of the South Sea. The name Nam Bình means that people from Quảng Nam came to Bình Thuận to settle and build a fishing village to worship the god of the South Sea, thus combining the names of their two hometowns to form Nam Bình. In the 24th year of Tự Đức's reign (1870), during the time when Mr. Nguyễn Quảng was the village head, the location was changed, and the village was rebuilt in Giang Hải 2 neighborhood using sturdy materials and tiled roofs, and renamed Tả Tân, which it remains to this day. Vạn Tả Tân has a history of over 200 years, having received 16 royal decrees from the emperors Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, Tự Đức, Đồng Khánh, Thành Thái, Duy Tân, Khải Định, and Bảo Đại, and served under 19 successive village heads. Mr. Phan Hiệp was the first person to establish it.

The Fishing Festival is the most important festival of the year for people living in coastal areas.

The rituals were meticulously prepared by the elders.

A place that preserves hundreds of whale skeletons.

Mr. Vo Mao, Head of the Ta Tan Village Management Board, said: “Every year, the village holds three rituals according to the lunar calendar: the early season ritual on April 17th, the grand ceremony on July 17th (the main fishing prayer ceremony), and the late season ceremony on October 25th, aiming to connect people with their roots. The recent Fishing Prayer Festival included ceremonies such as welcoming the deity of the South Sea; paying homage to the ancestors, paying homage to the spirits, the grand ceremony, honoring the king, and concluding the festival… Besides the rituals, the festival was also organized on a large scale with traditional cultural activities such as rowing boats and performing traditional opera… Ta Tan Village is home to hundreds of skeletons of the South Sea deity, including the largest skeleton weighing tons and measuring 14 meters in length. In 2008, Ta Tan Village was granted a provincial-level historical and cultural heritage site certificate by Binh Thuan province.”

The festival section features lively traditional boat rowing performances.

Traditional Vietnamese opera performances were held for the local fishermen.

Due to its age, Van Ta Tan has seriously deteriorated. After being renovated once in 1980, in 2020, the authorities continued to allocate funds for further renovations, which were basically completed by the end of 2022 and reopened after a two-year disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, according to Mr. Mao, during the renovation process, there is still a shortfall of over 40 million VND to complete the interior of the building. Therefore, he is calling for social contributions and support from the public to make Van Ta Tan "beautiful on the outside and sturdy on the inside"—worthy of being a place for annual folk cultural activities and a repository of valuable heritage.

Vạn Tả Tân has recently been renovated and repaired.

The Fishing Festival not only showcases unique folk cultural identity but also represents a beautiful local cultural aspect, embodying the principle of remembering one's roots and showing gratitude to the generations who contributed to the development of the fishing industry. At the same time, the festival is a repository of traditional folk art forms and is an important event that needs to be maintained, preserved, and promoted.

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